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Too proud to pray
There was a woman at work when she received a phone call that her daughter was very sick with a fever. She left work and stopped by the pharmacy to get some medication for her daughter. She returned to her car to find that she had locked the keys inside the car when she went…
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People are watching
Michael Myers really frightened me on Halloween night. If you aren’t a scary movie fan, Michael Myers was a terrible, awful character from the 1978 horror movie Halloween. He is not real. I know he is not real. But his mask and dark blue coveralls give me chills. Still. At our church’s Trunk or Treat,…
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Jesus:The I AM Part 3
BY GREG CRUM “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” John 11:25-26 A revelation of Jesus about himself, about an essential component of his nature,…
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Be Ye Holy
There is a story about a pastor who was building a wooden trellis to support a climbing vine. As he pounded away, he saw that a little boy was watching him. The youngster didn’t say a word, so the pastor kept on working, thinking the lad would just leave. But he didn’t. Finally the pastor…
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Learning from Dixie
God speaks. In the Bible, He spoke through angels, prophets, leaders, dreams, a burning bush, and even a donkey. In Jeremiah 33:3, God spoke these wonderful words: “Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and mighty things you do not know.” When we ask Him to speak to us, He…
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Jesus: The I AM Part 2
BY GREG CRUM “And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am? And they answered, John the Baptist: but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets. And he saith unto them,…
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The baptism of Big Bob
The story of a baptism at a country Baptist church in the 1940s: It was Easter Sunday and everyone was dressed in their finest. It was a proud, puffed-up congregation that day. And they were not happy this Easter Sunday. The creek was up a little bit and running a little swift. The baptismal candidate…
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The good and bad of pretending
We’re gearing up for Trunk or Treat. This year, I will be a dog. Our team’s theme is D.O.G. – Depend on God. Last year, I was Shadrach – one of the Hebrew boys in the fire. The back of my car was filled with fake flames made from bulletin board paper. A real fire…
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The Pastor’s Pen: We’ll stay out of the way
The call to Worship had just been pronounced starting Easter Sunday morning service in an East Texas church. The choir started its processional, singing “Up from the Grave He Arose” as they marched in perfect step down the center aisle to the front of the church. The last lady was wearing shoes with very slender…
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Telling the Story: Using your gifts and talents
I was the worst piano student EVER. I was lazy, never wanting to practice, and to make it worse…I lied. Every week I told my piano teacher it had sounded better at home. It hadn’t. On the other hand, my sister thrived. We had the same lessons each week. She played wonderfully while my notes…